


Ecological Congruity

by NoLifePoints (Vesperbat), Vesperbat



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperbat/pseuds/NoLifePoints, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperbat/pseuds/Vesperbat
Summary: There's only one thing that has ever worked out for Ryuuzaki, and the tiny apartment he shares with Haga is the only place that's really home. No one ever seems to get that, but maybe they don't have to. Maybe it isn't for them. And maybe acting on reckless impulses is what this relationship is all about.
Relationships: Dinosaur Ryuuzaki | Rex Raptor/Insector Haga | Weevil Underwood
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	Ecological Congruity

**Author's Note:**

> A direct followup to [Natural Symbiosis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810000). Best to read it first. Maybe some kind of aro and/or ace Haga? Interpret as you will.
> 
> As this happened to be ready on her birthday, I'm obliged to give fellow Haga fan [rainstormcolors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainstormcolors/) a shout-out. All the Haga love.

On the train ride home, Haga dozed off on Ryuuzaki’s shoulder. He watched him, eyes half-lidded, and let him sleep most of the way back. The drool leaking from the corner of his mouth should not have been endearing, but Ryuuzaki was too tired to even judge himself.

As the train neared their station, he made a show of nudging Haga awake. “Get your big head off me!”

Haga took it in stride, elbowing him as they fell into step. “At least I don’t have a dinosaur’s brain.”

“Bugs don’t even have brains!”

“Actually, they-”

Shaking his head, Ryuuzaki pushed past Haga and mounted the iron steps to their door, gray and faceless. The room was cramped, and meager as their possessions were, they never failed to make enough of a mess for Haga to complain about. They talked about moving, finding a place with another room or two. Somehow, they never got around to it. They just got used to each other’s constant company.

It wasn’t bad, really. At least you couldn’t be lonely. If Haga made a cocoon of blankets in the dry bathtub and camped there for alone time now and again, well – they were making it work. It was working.

A novel concept: something – _anything_ – working.

Haga kicked off his shoes, dropped down in front of their little particle board table, and opened a thick spiral notebook. He didn’t even bother to change first. Maybe he would later, or maybe he would simply crawl into his futon and pass out, pressing wrinkles into his uniform that he would whine about having to iron out later. Ryuuzaki crossed the room, fell to his knees behind Haga, and leaned on him, closing his eyes.

“Weren’t you just telling me to get off you earlier?” There was weariness in Haga’s voice, but no real protest.

“Was then,” Ryuuzaki mumbled. “This is now.”

“You smell like cigarettes,” observed Haga, eyes on his review.

“Blame Jounouchi for that.”

“About that. Are you going to fill me in?”

Paper rustled.

“No.”

“Alright.”

They fell into a comfortable silence punctuated only by the occasional turn of the page beneath Haga’s fingers. Ryuuzaki wondered when it got like this. Logically, there must have been a progression: a steady shift across the years as they tested each other and adapted accordingly. After all, they weren’t from the same phylum. They weren't even from the same ecosystem. Dueling drew them into shared territory, but that didn't mean they could survive there.

It didn’t feel like that now, though. This was how it was, the way a finch perched on the back of a tortoise and cleaned its shell. They didn’t stop to question the details of their coexistence. They _were_ an ecosystem.

“You should give it a rest,” said Ryuuzaki. He reached down and pushed the notebook away.

“You should give it a try,” said Haga, though he let him do it. “Maybe you wouldn’t have flunked that last quiz.”

“Don’t talk about that,” said Ryuuzaki, drawing each word into a whine. He wrapped his arms around Haga’s small shoulders, which were held as tight as ever. It was like he never relaxed.

“Ryuu..?”

This, Ryuuzaki supposed, was abnormal, even for them. He released Haga and scooted back. Haga twisted around, face upturned, and the injustice of it all came flooding back over Ryuuzaki. What did Jounouchi know about anything?

So Haga stacked his deck when you weren’t looking. If he had an opinion, you were going to hear it, whether you asked for it or not. He curled in on himself like a potato bug when he was absorbed in something, but he buzzed around like a fly when you were the busy one. His sense of humor could be cruel, and he laughed like locusts descending.

So all of that was true.

So what?

He’d throw himself between Haga and the entire rest of the world. He’d do it every time.

As Ryuuzaki touched Haga’s cheek, his chest burned with defiant affection. He leaned in, hesitant, and kissed him.

Haga’s brain evidently took a moment to catch up with his body. His eyes bulged, and he grabbed the front of Ryuuzaki’s jacket, jerking him forward. Ryuuzaki wanted to melt into a puddle then and there, and that was just one more thing he was not going to judge himself for tonight. He broke the kiss, forcing himself to meet Haga’s gaze. His heart threatened to explode.

Haga removed his glasses, as if somehow this would help him see Ryuuzaki better – to perceive the situation more clearly. He squinted. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing you, I guess.”

Ryuuzaki cringed at the words the second they left his mouth. He wanted to sound cool. Collected. Casual. Instead, he just sounded clueless. “If- I shouldn’t have-”

Haga considered this. “No,” he said. “I don’t really care that you did.” Ryuuzaki’s face must have slipped, because Haga’s mouth twisted to the side. “What?”

“Not… quite the reaction I was hoping for?” said Ryuuzaki. His cheeks burned.

Haga considered this as well. The delay between their signals was swiftly increasing.

“Oh,” he said, replacing his glasses. “Oh, right.” He shrugged faintly. His face was red, but his tone was even. “Sorry. I can’t make something into a bigger deal than it is.”

He was actually very good at doing that, thought Ryuuzaki. When the mood struck him. It was hard to tell what mood he was in now. If this were anyone else, Ryuuzaki would probably assume they were taunting him at this point. If this were any other situation, Haga probably would be taunting him. Right now, though…

Haga shook his head and said, “That’s beside the point. I meant… why? Why now?”

Ryuuzaki wrangled with the question for a long time. He had hoped it would be obvious. That the kiss would settle everything, the way the final card in your combo explained every move you’d made in the last three rounds.

“Because I’m glad you’re here,” he said.

Haga’s brow rose. “Okay.”

Apparently this explanation wasn’t doing it for him. Could he really be so smug about the details when Ryuuzaki had just _kissed_ him? What was he supposed to say? Ryuuzaki’s gaze fell to his knees. “Because… I like you, okay? I like you so much, it kind of pisses me off.”

“You are so weird.”

When Ryuuzaki looked up, Haga was smiling. It wasn’t a smirk. It wasn’t a sneer. It was an expression that seldom crossed Haga’s face - not if he wasn't watching an inchworm crawl across a twig. “But I like you, too,” he said.

Every complaint on the tip of Ryuuzaki’s tongue scurried away. “You do?”

Haga rolled his eyes. “Ugh. I just said so, didn’t I?”

It shouldn’t have startled him so much. As long as they’d been together… and yet. Ryuuzaki sniffled once, twice, and threw his arms around Haga’s shoulders.

Haga flailed and fell backward, narrowly missing a concussion via table edge. “Woah! Hey!”

“I like you. I like you so much. Don’t ever leave.”

Shoving at Ryuuzaki’s face, Haga said, “We’ve established that! And what are you going on about now?”

“I don’t know! Just- don’t!”

“Like I would-” Haga sighed, snaking his hand around and patting Ryuuzaki’s back instead. “You’re a mess.”

Ryuuzaki buried his face in Haga’s neck. “Can’t help it.”

“Whatever’s gotten into your head… well. I guess I don’t mind. Or I wouldn’t, if you weren’t crushing me.”

Ryuuzaki grabbed the edge of the couch, pulled himself up, and extended a hand. Haga took it. They stood that way for a moment, and it was all Ryuuzaki could do to not tackle Haga all over again.

But maybe Ryuuzaki could still say something cool. Even if he might curl up into a ball and die if he stopped to think about it for more than a second. Rallying, he said, “Guess you got into my head.”  
  
Haga smirked. “Oh? Just now?”  
  
“… nah.” Ryuuzaki looked at Haga for so long that he actually started to get flustered, too. Pressing his advantage, he reached out and cupped Haga’s cheeks. “Getting into people’s heads is one of your greatest abilities. Like. Y’know. A brain worm.”  
  
Haga laughed. Laughed like the scraping of wings.

If this were anyone else, Ryuuzaki might have floundered, struck by the sheer atrocity of the line he had just unleashed upon the world.

As it was Haga, Ryuuzaki was too busy being struck by Haga himself. He launched himself at Ryuuzaki exactly as Ryuuzaki had resisted doing to him. They tumbled onto the sofa and laughed big, shrill, gut-tearing laughs. If the neighbors wanted to complain..? 

So what.

They just didn’t understand ecology.


End file.
